Schloss Elmau

11/20 - 12:51pm

So this is what happens when life gets in the way. I've found that all humans in their own mind and in their own way are always busy. Between work, family, social events even social media we use up our hours. But I've also noticed that there are better ways to do things. When I am focused on God, my children and beautiful wife, friendships and just the overall beauty surrounding me, the technology takes a complete back seat and to even take my computer or phone out to write about our experiences seems taxing. And I think that is a good thing.

The last few days for me have been exactly that. After bidding the Grants adieu from what was a short but incredibly sweet time, we saddled up and headed 6 hours north to Germany. The plan, 8 full days of pure beauty in the valley castle Schloss Elmau’s 5 star resort, surrounded by snow capped mountains and vivid evergreens. Shiloh and the girls ditched the dudes and kids to head up the road an hour to another retreat for a few days of pure indulgence and relaxation celebrating Heather's birthday. And as much as I knew I'd miss her, I also knew the kids and I would have a great time here. Other than the lord of the flies community the children have built and the infinite freedom we have given them (a hint of irresponsibility from us dads, but at the same time very healthy freedom for the kids) it has been nothing short of perfection. Not to mention it is snowing!

I am laying poolside at the indoor family spa with windows that look out to endless beauty and snow capped mountains while my kids run a cycle of sauna, ice shower, pool, hydrate. They could likely go for hours, but I'm afraid they'll weigh 20lbs less if I don't shut it down soon... so I will break this brilliant relaxation for some schnitzel and beers!

Shiloh arrives in a couple hours and we are heading for a hike up to the top of a mountain where a cabin of chefs and wine are waiting for us. This is the true definition of spoiled!

Wild Boar Hunt, Curry & Grants

11/16 - 11:20pm

Seriously!  I thought time was supposed to stand still when you are in the middle of wine country across the globe.  What happened?!  It is Wednesday and I am certain yesterday was Friday last week.  Honestly wow.  So I guess this is the time of the trip where things start to fly by and the next thing we know we’ll be landing in LAX and our Italian Getaway will be history.  Just writing that makes me a bit emotional.  On one hand, I miss San Diego with a fervent passion; our family, friends, Cardiff, Mexican food - and on the other hand, I know I miss those things because of the perspective that this beautiful escape has given us.  The grass is not always greener in this case, in fact, the more I think about it, the grass is just green, and it is up to you to realize that and make the most out of it no matter where the heck you are. 

Okay, whatever that just was above, here’s where the past 5 days have gone.  Saturday was a mans man dream.  Shotguns and hunting dogs and all geared up for some Wild Boar hunting.  First off, I’m not sure if it was a sign, but the very first thing on my Facebook feed that morning was a random video posted by who knows who titled “Are You Sure You Want to Be a Boar Hunter” and it was clip after clip of hunters getting rammed by wild boars.  What the what?!  Okay, so it’s not safe.  Got that.  But I wanted me some wild boar, so it was game on.  We drove deep into the heart of the Tuscan mountains with minimal civilization and it was 4 men and a dog.  Within the first 15 minutes the dog went ape crazy and out of nowhere 5 feet behind us explodes a 500lb (I’m likely exaggerating, but the ground shook like the scene from Jurassic Park when the T-Rex appears on the scene) boar from the bushes up the hill sprinting at Usain Bolt speeds and darts across our trail and down the hill into the forrest, the hunting dog goes mad and chases after him, the owner loses it and is yelling at the dog to come back because there is no way we are chasing after that wildebeest dinosaur, I’ve already wet my pants and curled into the fetal position (which might have been the most sane response) and in a flash, the excitement was over, our dog was gone, and there was no boar to show for it.  We spent the next 5 hours hiking through thicket and brush covering a minimum of 10 sweaty miles and when the sun set we gave up our hopes and dreams and headed back to the hunters house (who thankfully had pre-hunted meat to spare) for a 5 course mafia style Italian feast (same crew as the Mexican dinner we had at our place a month back).  About a barrel of wine and a few whole animals later and it was time to head home with a frozen windshield in negative 1 degree weather.  It is officially winter!

Sunday was a long and slow recovery and then the Camerota’s had us over for their famous curry, which not only is the best thing you’ve ever eaten, but is a sure recovery from a previous nights indulgence. 

Monday some of our best friends in the world Rob & Anna Grant arrived with baby Jude in hand and of course the only way to greet them was with a 4lb bone in dry aged ribeye steak and a couple bottles of wine.  We ate, drank, spent 10 seconds catching up, and then it was immediate bedtime to play catch up from their jet-lag.  We spent the next day chilling out at home, some specialty craft Italian beers, a quick trip to Montone and then homemade pasta and ragu.  And then of course waking up wasn’t easy, who cares that I slept in till 11:30, it was Assisi time.  For me it was a bit of a stone castle blur of beauty, walking cobble stone streets gazing up at the majesty of this glorious city, knowing its luster is largely in part to St. Frances who gave all of his wealth (and that boy had some serious money) to the church and city and chose to live with the homeless and serve God all the days of his life; it was just an incredible day.  We got home right as the sun was setting, hit the grocery for some essentials (meat & wine) and then barbecued and feasted.  We all called it an early night, so here am I, laying in bed with my laptop on my lap and finishing up my work day while remembering how amazing the past few days have been.  We’ve got one more day to soak up with the Grants and then it is off to Germany!  Ciao Bella.

Technology Meltdown

11/11 - 4:27pm

So here I am, sitting in a bar across the street from the iPhone repair store, no wifi, no phone, and 3 hours to kill.  A part of me is totally freaking out with the disconnect from the outside world, and the other part of me is so incredibly relaxed.  When you have no control, no pending things you can handle, basically can’t do anything at all, there is something beautiful in that.  I brought my laptop assuming I’d be able to catch up on work or do something productive - but instead I am locked into this bar stool with a draft beer and my thoughts.  I think this might be good for me.

This week has been quite nice.  A lot of homebody house time, watching movies, playing with the kittens, family kickball, a couple polar bear plunges and lots of eating.  I got myself into a dangerous adventure of wild boar hunting tomorrow morning with Tony and Federico while the ladies and kids make pasta.  The goal, to return home with a giant chunk of pig that we can barbecue and have with a plethora of pasta and wine.  The reality, I will get gored by a tusk and spend the evening in the hospital, no pig, pasta or wine, but an IV of morpheme and nasty buffet.  Regardless, I’m manning up with a Crocodile Dundee knife and a shotgun and gone’get me some meat.

I’ve been here for 15 minutes and I’m already freaking out.  Ha.  I need therapy.  Maybe one of these days I’ll take a week or month off of work and all technology and see what actually happens to me...even typing that stressed me out.

If/when I get home with an un-shattered iPhone, I’ll be lighting the fire for a night of grilling.  Shi picked up a huge branzino from the fish market along with some squid, and salmon.  Dang it.  I’m hungry now. 

ROME

11/8 - 2:12pm

I am looking at my shattered iPhone and my computer crashed and have to wonder if things have to balance out sometimes.  I mean, we have been living nothing short of our dream life for the past few months and I guess it’s good to get a reality check every once in a while.  The funny thing is, God has really taught us perspective over our lifetime together and the reality is these are all just ‘things’ and dictate absolutely zero of our happiness.  So instead I will crack open an ice cold Pirate Life IPA and go for a polar-bear-plunge in our pool that is now in the low 50’s and hit the reset button on my thoughts about our lost and broken stuff.

Rome was a whirlwind of walking, eating, drinking and playing cards.  Traveling with kids is really funny, especially in ‘tourist’ locations, because you realize that they verbalize what adults are thinking, but pretending to be adults so we don’t say, like “can we go back to the room and watch a movie, my feet hurt - or - does the tour have to take 4 hours, I’d rather eat a hamburger.”  It’s hard to tell them to take in the beauty when you yourself would rather be sitting in a small cafe having an espresso or better yet a bottle of wine.  So we compromised. 

We spent the first 4 hours of our trip with a private tour guide exploring the Colosseum, which is completely insane.  To think that hundreds of thousands of people would watch other humans slaughter each other for sport and spectacle is madness...and yet at the same time, could totally imagine for the culture of the day this being the greatest thing in the world.  Our tour guide Rachel was from the states and had moved to Italy as an art history major 7 years ago to get her masters in tourism and hasn’t looked back.  Oh, and she spoke our language of sarcasm which made the time much more enjoyable.  After airdropping me her Rome Restaurant must eats we were on our way to hit as many as we could before our train out Monday.

Our first stop was beers and popcorn chicken at a retro bottle shop, then cocktails at the famous Freni E Frizioni cocktail bar and happy hour (the kids got mock-tails) and cards.  From there we had dinner at Sotto Sopra which at that point we had already eaten so much food, and yet everything on the menu sounded so good that we basically accepted gluttonism.  We planned on going to a few more spots, but were so overly full that I just grabbed a beer to go and we called it a night.

Sunday morning greeted me with an espresso and chocolate croissant in bed thanks to my early risers who had already been out and about and found the most delicious hole in the wall French pastry shop. The threat of rain had been looming all weekend, but as of noon there was yet to be a drop from the sky.  With t-shirt and scarf we braved the day and let our stomachs lead us on. At the top of our list was Cybo a traditional Roman Italian cuisine but given a modernist twist.  Everything was absolutely delicious but strangely it was Brody’s Cesar Salad that stole the show.  It was literally perfect!  We repeated our trip to the Trevi Fountain same as we’d done with the kids 5 years ago, and each made a wish.  My wish was to head back to the room for a nap - and it was granted.  It was 6pm now and we’d decided to get happy hour at this popping bar we’d seen the night before called Meccanismo Bistrot, and found the only open spot in the back along the window at a 4 seater couch.  With drinks and cards in hand we debated if it made sense to sit outside, and as if perfectly on que lightning broke with an immediate explosion of thunder and the heavens opened up a torrential downpour on the city.  People were running frantically to find shelter, and there we were, sitting in the most cozy seat in the house watching our own light show spectacle.  30 minutes later, not a cloud in the sky.  Next stop, this kitchy wine bar that played pop hits revamped as jazz classics.  It was there that we decided to abandon our reservations at Le Mani in Pasta known for the best pasta in the world and instead go to Coffee Pot Trastevere for sushi.  We arrived just as they were opening and were the first people to be sat.  And in 10 minutes there was not a seat available and the bar was flooded with patrons.  A live band played in the corner as we ate sushi roll after sushi roll.  By 9 we had gone through enough sushi for a small army and again had to throw in the towel early... but not without another beer for the road and some popcorn chicken for the boys.  Everyone crashed hard early, but because I’d napped and had an Italian double IPA in hand, I watched back to back movies on Netflix and finally passed out at 3am.

Monday was a blur.  All I remember was the espresso and croissant repeat at the pastry shop and catching the early train back home.  All was perfect until everything hit the fan as mentioned above.  Either way, it is always worth it, and as I finish this beautiful beverage I am being called to play kickball with the kids.  No complaints here.

The Secrests are coming

11/5 - 10:59am

Time fly’s when you're having wine...and fun.

So this past week whipped by. The Secrest's came into town (the real Ryan Secrest) with their beautiful baby girl Chloe and we shared with them our Italian culture of classy over eating. The highlight was our day in Montefalco topped off with dinner at the Mafia restaurant. We went back to Arnaldo Caprai where we proceeded to woo the girl pouring our wine into selling us a bottle of Spinning Beauty. This is a 100% Sagratino (the sexiest grape grown in all of Italy) aged in oak barrels for 8 years. The first of its kind and the very first release of this wine.  And after a little begging (maybe even groveling), we walked out with a 3 bottle box and officially the first people to have ever purchased this wine! Pretty cool for wine-o's like us.  We went to the market and picked up a gorgeous pumpkin some pork and veggies for our Halloween dinner and all hung out in the kitchen while cooking like a true Italian feast. 

Their last night in town we spent up in Montone for the festival of ‘something amazing’.  I have never seen so many Italians in one place.  Dinner at the steakhouse with back to back incredible bottles of Hermitage.  Great times indeed.

The rest of the week was recovery and work and maybe just a couple drinks.  One super cool thing the kids did for school was to paint the 'perfect tree' that we drive past every time we journey into Montone.  So they sat on the hood while Shi and I sat in the car and shared a drink and listened to music.  Pretty dang cool of us I must say. 

We are now on a train headed for Rome for a weekend of food, culture and education - starting with a treasure hunt at the Colosseum. Stay tuned.